Pages

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wild China (2008)

I love watching nature/wildlife shows and I have to start this review by saying that the BBC's Wild China might just be the best one I've ever seen. A big problem with nature shows today is that we've seen most of it before. I was blown away by The Blue Planet and Planet Earth but by the time Life got to the discovery channel I felt like I'd been there and done that. Wild China is fascinating because until recently China has been a very closed society that wouldn't dream of allowing a film crew in. Now that China has loosened up a bit we're able to see things that were rarely seen before in this type of program and the results are spectacular.

Another thing that separates Wild China from the rest of the pack is that it focuses not just on the wildlife but the interplay between man and nature that has been going on in China for over a millennium. The documentary spent nearly as much time focusing on the ancient ways of the Chinese people as it did the animals. It gave the documentary a very complete feeling and I feel like I learned quite a bit about China, not just about it's animals.

Sadly, this documentary could not have been more timely. As China's march towards modernity carries on it's natural beauty faces great peril. Hopefully China will recognize the wonderful natural assets it has and adjust it's path accordingly.

If you have any interest in nature shows or just like seeing beautiful vistas I cannot recommend Wild China enough. If that isn't enough to get you to add it to your queue I'll tell you that one of the episodes in this stunning documentary shows a baby panda drinking from a bottle. Awwwww.